Industry and commerce.

The Egyptians also practised the industrial arts and Commerce. The large variety of objects found in the tombs shows that they were able to work gold, silver and copper with rare skill and that in the cutting of precious stones they reached an incredible degree of perfection. They excelled particularly in the art of adornment (rings, bracelets, pendants, earrings) which reached a series of high points under the IV, XII, XVIII and XX dynasties. 

They preduced textiles of great distiction from essentially very simple materials. They also made pottery, glass, and enamel. They did not use money. With the people of Nubia they exchangesd the products of agriculture and industry, wheat and onions, arms and jewels, for woods and skins, gold and ivory. Spices and incense came from Arabia while from Phoenicia they imported cargoes of cedar wood.

From the XVIII dynasty on the Egyptians extablised close trading relations with countries touched by Euphrates and with the islands of the eartern Mediterranean. For example Cyprus furnished then with copper. 

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The tombs of this cemetery are very small and inferior in quality to the rather grand stone-built mastabas in the cemeteries of the high officials. They were constructed with odds and ends of different types of building materials left over from the building of pyramids and their associated temples. The first one to be explored was a long vaulted chamber with two false doors. Hieroglyphs in the tomb showed that it belonged to Ptah-shepsesu and his wife. There were three burial shafts at the back of the chamber, so perhaps their son was buried there too. Ptah-shepsesu may have been a supervisor of some sort as his tomb is larger than the others surrounding it. Altogether, about 600 of these small tombs have been found, as well as about 30 larger ones belonging to overseers. The tombs were constructed in all shapes and sizes, many of them appearing to imitate the plans of the tombs of high officials. One has a small ramp, perhaps in imitation of the royal tomb.  

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The power of Zed-Khons-uef-ankh to move men and material is most evident in the two mommoth stone sarcophagi that protected his mummy. At great expense and labor they were transported across miles of sand and wasteland to his oasis tomb. Both were made of the finest stone of the age. The closest source for the inner alabaster sarcophagus was Hatnub, a quarry near Amarna on the east bank of the Nile, 130 miles (200 kilometers) from El Bawiti. The heavy outer limestone sarcophagus probably came from Tura near modern Cairo, according to Zahi Hawass, the tomb's chief excavator. The expert craftsmen of Memphis, Egypt's administrative center, carved the governor's face into the stone, then a barge floated the finished product 150 miles (240 kilometers) down the Nile to a quay on the west bank where it was carried or dragged another hundred miles (160 kilometers) to Bahariya. Once there is must have been ceremoniously lowered into the tomb, where it lay for nearly 2600 years before Hawass's team lifted its 12-ton lid to search for the governor's remains and his legacy.

Before the recent discovery of the gilded mummies at Bahariya Oasis made headlines, the most famous of Egypt's scattered desert outposts was Siwa, 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the Mediterranean coast near the border of present day Libya. Here, 2400 years ago, one of the most renowned oracles of the time drew travelers across the sands in search of the prophesies of Amun-Re, the Egyptian sun god. In 332 B.C. one of those travelers was Alexander the Great. A believer in divine destiny, he wanted the blessing of the oracle to assure his dream of conquering Asia and his status as the son of Zeus-Amun. As ancient chroniclers report, he almost died on the journey. First his party ran out of water, and then they were lost in a blinding sandstorm. Fate intervened when a sudden rainstorm and the sight of birds heading towards the springs of Siwa saved them. Alexander reached his destination and the oracle received him as the son of Amun and the future "Lord of Asia".

Jeanne E. Peters.   

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    The Ebers Papyrus, dating back to about 1200BC and named after a professor of Egyptology, mentions migraine, neuralgia, and shooting head pains.

Following the instructions on the papyrus, the Egyptians would firmly bind a clay crocodile holding grain in its mouth to the head of the patient using a strip of linen. The linen bore the names of the gods whom the Egyptians believed could cure their ailments.

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The chant rang out across an ancient cemetery in the Nile Delta: "Hela hap, saly Allah." A dozen workers beseeched their god to give them the strength and courage to move an eight-ton granite sarcophagus bound for the centennial exhibit at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The workers' effort of will occurred only a few months ago, but 3,000 years ago, when the sarcophagus was dragged to its hilltop bed of sand, the scene was much the same, except that the gods called on would have been Re or Horus or even the great pharaoh himself.

Around 1000 B.C. a powerful priest commissioned a granite sarcophagus from the quarries at Aswan to be delivered 600 miles north to his Delta home. It would be a resting place for his mummy on its journey though the perils of the afterlife. As revealed in tomb paintings, the quarry workers at Aswan dragged their heavy load onto a barge for its trip downriver, waiting for the Nile flood to help them on their way.

Today's workers did not transport the sarcophagus by river to Cairo, but they did rely on the same strength of numbers, rope, and muscle to inch the heavy load onto a flatbed truck, using huge timbers and rollers to help slide it along just as the ancient Egyptians did.

—Jeanne E. Peters

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Oh, I have been to the Egyptian museeum and saw Rosetta

Manal, all

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Thanks Tina ..

I am glad you enjoyed them .. 

Manal

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For nearly 1,500 years, no one could read hieroglyphs, the ancient Egyptian picture writing. The French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion spent most of his life trying to break the code. He made his first breakthrough in 1822, while studying the Rosetta Stone, and soon experts were able to read the inscriptions that cover many Egyptian artifacts. 

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The Nile river and the Sahara Desert dominate Egypt. Until recently, the Nile flooded every year, bringing fertile black soil to the farmland on its banks. The ancient Egyptians called the lush strip the "black land", the land of life. The scorching desert was the "red land", the land of death. The Aswan High Dam, built in 1969-70 ended the annual flooding.

The Nile river is the longest river in the world, flowing 4,145 miles of East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. The Sahara is the world's largest desert. 

Egypt's capital, Cairo, is the largest city in Africa, with a population of over 15 million. It was founded by Muslims, in A.D. 969, more than a thousand years after the last pharaoh. Egypt has been a Muslim country since A.D. 642.

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Important officials were called "friends of the Pharoah". They had titles like "Fanbearer on the right of the king" and "Master of the Horse". Many of them lived at the palace. On great state occasions, they would be joined by high priests and officials from all over Egypt.

The pharoah's chief wife ruled beside him as his queen. She was looked upon as a god on earth. The king represented the all-powerful sun god, while she was associated with Hathor, goddess of love, and Isis, the mother goddess.

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The imagery of religious art had deep meaning to the Egyptians. The gods and symbols painted on mummy cases and tombs were to help tge dead avoid the dangers if the underworld.

Tools and paints were so precious that foremen issued them each morning and locked them away at night.

Fragments of a gigantic statue were found at Tanis. The big toe is the size of a man.

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Egyptologists estimate that it took 100,000 men 20 years to build the Great Pyramid at Giza. But how was it built ?? The most popular theory is that workers slid the massive blocks of stone up ramps onto the pyramid. Since little real evidence exists, we probablu never know for sure.

An Ancient greek traveler wrote that workers had used lifting machines to raise stones. But he was told this 2,000 years after the pyramids were built. Ramps are less work and so more likely.

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Bread and Beer were the two staples in an Egyptien diet. Both were made in a similar way, using wheat or barley. Bakers also made a whole variety of cakes and pastries, often sweetened with dates or honey. There were many fruits and vegetables, but potatoes and citrus fruits were unknown. The wealthy enjoyed lavish banquets - feasting on meat, washed down with wine. Poor people were more likely to dine on fish and beer.

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The main sport for well-to-do Egyptians was hunting. In early times, nobles stalked antelope, bulls, and lions on foot; later they hunted from horse-drawn chariots. Pharoahs were proud of their kills. Amenhotep III boasted of 102 lions in ten years as king, and Thutmose III claimed 120 elephants during one trip to Syria.   

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At the top of Egytian society was the pharoah. He commanded the army and ruled the country through a network of nobles, officials, and scribes. Skillful craftsworkers were kept busy building and decorating temples and tombs. but most Egyptians were peasants who worked the land.

Scribes were important because they were among the few who could read and write. They recorded many details of everyday life.

The state was highly bureaucratic. Every town had officials. These civil servants collected taxes, regulated businesses, and organized loans and marriage contracts.

The pharaoh was seen as a living god. He led in battle and protected Egypt from famine, disease, and chaos.

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The vast majority of ancient Egyptians were peasant farmers. They worked in the fields by the Nile, channeling the floodwaters and planting and harversting crops. Many others worked as servants or laborers. Few of them could read or write. But they enjoyed more freedom than slaves, who were rare.

Slaves were never an important part of Egyptian society and were rare until the New Kingdom. Most slaves were foreigners, captured during Egypt's wars abroad.

A worker's home or the homes of the lower classes were small and cramped. The people spent most of their time up on the roof terrace or cooking in the court. In winter, a fire warmed the room, and the air was thick with smoke.

Servant girls or most domestic servants were just poor. But some were female slaves who had escaped debt by selling themselves into slavery. The purchaser agreed to protect and feed the slave - and might later free her.

Peasants who did not pay their taxes were beaten. more serious criminals were whipped or had their noses cut off and then were sent o mines in Sinai or Nubia.

Egyptians believed that, in heaven, they would worl for the gods in the Field of Reeds. The rich were buried with model shabti figures, to do the work for them .   

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Egypt's Highway was the Nile. Everything from grain and cattle to coffins and building stone was transported by water. Only the best boats were wooden, because wood was very rare. Most travelers and fishermen punted through the shallows on rafts made from bundles of reeds. The Egyptians steered their boats with special oars mounted on ht stern (back).

Egyptians put model boats in tombs in the belief that the boat would cary the dead person's mummy to the afterlife. The best preserved boat is the funeral boat of King Khufu. It was found in 1954 in a sealed pit next to his tomb, the Great Pyramid at Giza. Made from 651 pieces of cedar, the boat is 143 ft. (43.5 m) long.

Large sails were used to travel upriver against the current. Going downriver, the sail was dropped and the boat was rowed.

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Egyptian temples were awesome structures with massive stone walls and rows of columns carved with hieroglyphs and religious images. A temple was the home of a god. Ordinary people could only enter the outer court. In the dark rooms at the temple's heart, priests performed sacred rituals.

The temple was part of a huge complex with farms, workshops, Houses of life (offices), and Houses of the Book (libraries). Each temple owned great tracks of land, where food was grown to be offered to the gods.

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The Egyptians' idea of heaven was a rural paradise, presided over by the god Osiris. They called it the Field of Reeds - a place where the sun shone and people worked in the fields, planting and harvesting their crops. In fact, it was just like Egypt - except grain grew a foot taller.

And statues of the dead were placed in the tomb chapel to make sure that the gods knew who was buried there. Loved ones visited the chapel to put offerings before the statues.

The god of the dead and embalming was the jackal-headed Anubis. He was thought to guard mummies and necropolises (burial grounds). A priest wearing an Anubis mask supervised the ritual practices that rurrounded the process of embalming (preserving).

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The Egyptians wanted to live forever. And to achieve this, believed that a dead person's body had to be preserved, or "mummified". the mummy was then buried with elaborate rites and a book of magic spells to help it in its journey through the treacherous underworld.

Egyptians also believed that a person's spirit took several forms. One of these forms was the Ba, similar to a soul. The Ba - depicted as a bird - left the body at death. Only when it returned would the person live forever.

Also tomb walls contained false doors - gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. The spirits of the dead were thought to come and go through these doorways.

And mourners wailed and splashed their faces with mud, as priests dragged the mummy to the tomb. Before sealing the mummy in, the priests performed sacred rites and repeated magic spells. 

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Ancient Egyptian priests were called "servants of the gods". Their job was not to preach to the people, but to keep the gods happy and fulfilled. They did this by performing elaborate rituals in the sacred inner sanctums of temples, where only senior priests and the pharoah were allowed to enter.

And to show their purity, priests shaved their heads and bodies and washed many times a day. And in the inner sanctum of the temple, the priest chanted "I am a Pure One" as he approached the gold statue of the god.

And at the heart of the temple were the gold statue of the god was. The priests would wash it, dress it, and place food before it several times a day. The god was sealed in its shrine at night, then "woken" in the morning. 

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In Ancient times,  a great variety of animals thrived in Egypt. The desert was home to lions, wolves, antelopes, wild bulls, and hares. The river marshes echoed eith the loud cries of exotic birds. Crocodiles lazed on the banks, while hippos wallowed in the water. At night, owls, jackals, and hyenas came out in search for food.

Many people were killed by the huge Nile crocodiles. And the animal was worshipped as the God Sobek.

And the Hippo was feared because it overturned boats. In legends, it was associated with the evil god Seth, so killing a hippo was a symbolic victory over evil. The wealthy hunted them with spears.

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Did you know that :  

The Beautiful Art of Ancient Egypt was produced by teams of anonymous painters and sculptors. They worked in tombs, temples, palaces, and houses. Their art is highly stylized; figures are almost always depicted in formal poses, and its difficult to recognize individuals because most subjects are given perfect features.

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To keep a Mummy from rotting away, a body was preserved by embalming. After the internal organs were removed, the corpse was washed, dried out with natural salts, and then coated with oils and resins. And finally, it was wrapped in many layers of tight linen bandages. The whole process took about 70 days.

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